Videogames are big business, and because all of the major video game publishers are publicly traded companies, it's a very public big business. Earlier this month Banc of America Securities unloaded a massive 43-page report speculating on what will happen during the upcoming holiday buying season, possibly the largest in videogame history.

What's at stake? Well, until the games industry matures enough to spread its releases around, over 40% of annual game sales happen in the 60-day period between November and December. Due to the blockbuster releases on the table and the large installed base of hardware platforms out there, Banc of America suggests that 2004 in particular "could prove to be the largest and most competitive in the 30-year history of the videogame industry."

The massive report is aimed at investors who are looking to buy or sell game-related stock in the coming six months. That's important to note as you check the report out -- they're not trying to predict what the best games of the holiday are going to be. They're predicting what the best selling games are going to be, and which ones will meet expectations set by company leaders. It's all about the biz.

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Disclaimer: This report is provided for information purposes only. The report was not prepared as or intended to be investment advice and is issued without regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any specific recipient. Neither Banc of America Securities nor any officer or employee of BAS or any affiliate thereof accepts any liability whatsoever for any direct, indirect or consequential damages or losses arising from any use of this report or its contents. A PDF Reader is required.

Halo 2 promises to be the videogame event of the year, but it's not the only one...

That said, it's still fun to analyze from our perspective, as discriminating gamers who would eat live ****roaches to get our hands on Halo 2. Here's our take on the Banc of America report:

The Big Picture: Murderers' Row

The main gist of the report focuses on what they dubbed "The Murderers' Row" of incredible games in the hopper this holiday, and how they'll impact just about every game released in the last quarter of this year. Aside from The Sims 2, which is in a category all its own, every game will have significant competition.

Who is in the "Murderers' Row?" Chances are it reads a lot like your holiday wishlist:

Starting in October, there's about one massive release expected every two weeks until the beginning of December. And this is during the most crowded release schedule in gaming history (over 250 games are shipping in North America just in the last quarter alone.) Their short list mysteriously doesn't even include massive surefire hits like Madden 2005, even though it's touched on later in the report. Even so, the list is mouth-watering, and the competition is furious. Banc of America asks, "are there any other games out there that can survive Murderers' Row?"

For publishers, the impact is obvious: without a big franchise name associated with the game, it's going to be really tough to get attention (Banc of America pulls no punches: "Expect many disasters this holiday.") For gamers like us the problem is a pretty happy one -- you've got plenty of awesome games to choose from. The only real issue is if you'll miss out on something innovative and original because you'll be too busy opening your wallet for GTA San Andreas. But then again ... you'll be playing San Andreas. Life's not so bad.

The report continued with a genre-by-genre breakdown. We'll skip over a couple we didn't have any commentary for (there's not much new or outstanding going on in fighting games this year, despite some decent titles) and give you our take.

Biggest season in over thirty years? That's pritty amazing. In the end it all comes down to the major releases, Half Life 2, Doom 3, Halo 2, ect.

To read the whole thing click the link.
Your thoughts.

bostwick202

07-27-2004, 09:54 AM

Very cool stuff, now that i think about it , there's a ton of awesome games coming out! I'm also looking forward to Paper Mario 2, which is coming out in october. :hail:

CMX Jedi

07-27-2004, 11:39 AM

they have said every holiday season is the biggest one ever

SoundX

07-27-2004, 12:55 PM

Yeah, but when you think about it. This time it realy could.

GTA San Andreas, Half Life 2, Halo 2, Doom 3. Have you ever seen so many massive games go on sale at the same time? There gonna make history, and then you've got the typicaly well selling racers like Need for Speed U2, Juiced, Forza, Tony Hawks, the list could go on.

Even though there are a lot of good games coming out this Christmas, I'm going to own a lot of them before Christmas even arrives. A few of those will be Fable, Doom 3, Half-Life 2(If it's out), and Halo 2. So, my Christmas list will be the same, and it may or may not contain my own personal whore.

Brutus

07-28-2004, 01:35 PM

Well, this holiday will be the same for me, only instead of Misc. stuff I'm going to mostly be buying Video Games. The list is just RED HOT!

skorp

07-28-2004, 11:13 PM

they have said every holiday season is the biggest one ever

True! But mainly because these developers keep extending the release of the most wanted games year after year...

I can't wait... :p

Xorg

07-29-2004, 12:29 AM

You also have splinter cell 3, the new zelda,

David Luckey

07-29-2004, 12:56 AM

You also have splinter cell 3, the new zelda,

Where the **** did that come from?

Xorg

07-29-2004, 01:10 AM

just mentioned two more titles that are going to sell a lot

David Luckey

07-29-2004, 01:30 AM

Oh, sorry Xorg...I took that as a response to somebody saying something like "I have fable, doom 3, etc."

As- "Yeah right, idiot-""You also have splinter cell 3, the new zelda,"

My bad.

Brevity

07-29-2004, 01:55 AM

Seems like an ez guess.

SoundX

07-29-2004, 06:57 AM

I thought the Legend of Zelda wasn't out for awhile, atleast further in 2005.